Double Act
by everworld2662
Summary: Infamous ArtemisAlex slash. Artemis and Alex Rider crossover.


Double Act

****

A/N: Written on an impulse. : ) I do apologise for anything weird. It's sort of a take off of Entrapment, of the laser bit. This is-_so far_-a one off. And it's Alex Rider crossover. And it has a slash. Gee! Why the hell _would_ you want to read this fic? Whatever. You have been warned. So don't flame.

Songlist: Not My Idea – Garbage

Till the day that I die – Garbage

Shut your mouth – (can you guess?) GARBAGE (!!!)

As Heaven is Wide – Garbage

Artemis smiled. The elevator door slid open and he stepped in, casually pressing all of the floor buttons. He was carrying a small black briefcase, which he placed on the floor as he watched the numbers mount as the elevator progressed upwards. Artemis slid the case open and balanced it perfectly on his knee as he slipped out its contents: his laptop, wires, a pair of goggles, and a strange looking clip-instrument, which he placed on the floor. Artemis glanced up. The elevator slid to a stop on the eighth floor. Artemis snapped closed the briefcase and grabbed the clip-instrument. 

The door slid open, and Alex Rider stepped into the elevator. Artemis nodded in greeting, and as Alex slipped Artemis' briefcase between the elevator doors, Artemis slipped out and carefully attached the instrument to the interior of the shaft, and as he watched, the number displaying plaque glowed green as the numbers counted back to floor 1.

"We're a minute and a half behind schedule," Artemis informed Alex as he stepped back into it and dropped the thin briefcase down the shaft, in the gap in between the two platforms. 

"We can catch that up when we reach the twelfth floor," Alex said softly. 

Artemis nodded his approval, then eyes the black speedo bag Alex was clutching. 

"You brought the items?" 

"Of course." Alex unzipped the bag and slipped out a completely black ninja costume, and quickly slipped it over his own clothes. Artemis crouched in the moving lift and switched on his laptop, typing for a moment, then he reached round the laptop and clicked out a tiny disk. 

"That's it?" Alex asked. 

Artemis nodded. "Yes. It may look small. But all the information is in there. I assure you. And you have the laser cutter?" 

Alex nodded. The lift doors slid open. Alex and Artemis stepped out. The speedo bag jammed in the lift doors, as planned. 

They both rounded the next corner; Alex slipping ahead to check it was completely guard-free. They walked to the next corner, then rounded it carefully. Artemis handed Alex the pair of goggles. Alex strapped them on, and made to start forwards, but Artemis grabbed his arm and hauled him back. 

"Are you a complete idiot?" Artemis hissed silently. 

Alex shook his head, and said patiently, "There's nothing there." 

Artemis cursed silently, and wrenched the goggles off Alex and opened the battery compartment. He smiled wryly. "Typical. It all falls apart because of one battery." _Those words seem familiar_. 

Alex nodded. "The computer showed you?" 

Artemis looked at Alex, cool and calculating. He gave a swift nod, and hugged the side bag where the laptop had been placed, along with the goggles and laser cutter. 

"This is where we need the laser cutter," Artemis said. Alex frowned, then glanced around. 

"Oh," he said softly, and slipping it out, held it out in front of him as he carefully slid to the side of the corridor. In cased in glass was a fire alarm. 

"Why couldn't we just break it?" Alex inquired.

"No trace," Artemis corrected him. "Remember, there must be no trace." _I have said that before. But when?_

"Ah." Alex jabbed the button on the end of the cutter and a laser beam slid out and cut a sharp incision around the edges of the glass pane. When it came loose, Alex threw the cutter to Artemis who caught it and slid it back into its bag. 

Alex carefully removed the pane from the alarm. The bright red button was now accessible. He glanced at Artemis, who was watching him.

"This is where we part," Artemis told him. "I will retrace my steps, as agreed and clear all traces of our being here. Then I will meet you on the roof...at exactly..." Artemis checked his watch. "2:18. Time is of the essence, as you know." _I know those words_. "Here is your earpiece." 

Alex took the nugget shaped earpiece from Artemis and slipped it in. Artemis gazed at him seriously. "Here is your equipment, except, of course, for the laptop." Artemis handed him the side bag, and slipped the laptop under his arm. "Remember-this is what you trained for Alex. Now go." 

Alex secured the bag around his shoulders, the turned to the button and glanced at Artemis. "Get ready to run. When I hit this, all hell is going to break loose." 

Artemis nodded. "Indeed. Oh-and Alex?"

"Yes?"

"Good luck." 

Alex smiled thinly. "See you." He jabbed the red button. 

Alarm bells squealed. Artemis turned and ran down the corridor. Alex wasted not a second. He carefully but hastily replaced the glass on top of it, then turned to the corridor. Water was spraying down from the ceiling to extinguish the supposed fire-and it lit up red beams on its way down. Lasers. The only lasers Artemis hadn't been able to draw up on his laptop. And this was the only way to see them. But it cut their time short. Alex gazed at them for a moment, then carefully picked his way through them. 

A step forward, one back, duck, twist forward. A laser threatened to touch his foot, and he jumped, narrowly avoiding a laser passing over him at the top. He slid forward past the lasers and burst into a sprint around the next corner. Artemis assured him there were no lasers here. Alex prayed he was right. The alarm bells finally switched off, and Alex heard Artemis in his ear. 

"Did you manage the lasers?"

"Yes," Alex gasped between breaths. "It worked just as you thought it would." 

"Good." Artemis sounded satisfied. "But we're running out of time. Where are you?" 

Alex took a quick glance at his surroundings. "Fifth section." 

"Ah." Artemis said. "The guard." 

"Don't distract me," Alex ordered as he rounded the corner. 

***

The guard's name was Anthony Hands. He was a boring guy of about 35. He was married and had 4 kids, and the only thing Anthony wanted at the moment was to finish his shift so he could get some sleep at home. 

What he _didn't _want was some lunatic kid leaping out of nowhere and delivering a few shocking moves of kung fu at him. Pity. That's what he got. 

Alex was surprised at his luck. The guard hadn't been attentive enough; he'd let Alex get too close. Alex had crawled behind the line of office shelves until he was barely two metres away from the guy. The he had flown at him. 

Anthony wildly fettered at the Alarm Button, but Alex had anticipated him, and pushed the man away from his desk where the button was situated. The guard may have been bored, but now he was wide awake, and ready for action. He reached into his holster, but Alex caught his with a backhand kick, and sent his arm spinning away from the holster. Alex delivered a punch to his face; meaning to knock him out cold, but the security guard caught his hand, and twisted Alex around on his back. 

Alex heard a gun being cocked from his twisted position, and cried out in pain as Anthony twisted his arm harder.

"Don't!" He yelled. "Don't, you'll break it." 

"_Who are you_?" Anthony hissed. "What are you doing here?"

Alex didn't answer, and instead, summoning his entire strength, pulled away from the man and struck him with the laser cutter. His thumb accidentally jammed the button, and Anthony Hands gave an agonised yell. Alex didn't hesitate, and gave him a swift blow to the head. Anthony Hands fell on the ground, unconscious.

Alex took a deep breath as he bent over the man. The laser cutter had left its mark. A vivid gash of red sliced open across his eyelid. Alex winced, but pocketed the cutter. Better them then him.

"Good going," Alex heard. He jumped and readjusted the earpiece. "But now you're wasting time." 

Alex sighed. "Fine. Section six." 

"There are ten basic sections," Artemis reprimanded him. "Get going." 

Alex frowned as he stepped over the guard. "The vents. Okay, here I come." Alex bent over Anthony and took his gun. He procured a silencer from the bag and clipped it on the gun and aimed briefly, then fired. The vent grate shook, the fell open. But the bullet had made an awful sound ricocheting of the metal. Shouts echoed behind him.

"Idiot," groaned Artemis. "You should have used the magnetic bolts. Why did you shoot it, did you think it was more dramatic?" 

Alex grinned wryly. "The ways some people get there kicks..."

Artemis frowned. "We could chat, of course, and we could also call of the entire operation." 

"I get it, I get it." Alex grumbled. "I'm going, gone." 

Alex hopped onto the table and slid his slim frame into the vent, before replacing a dented grate. He would just have to hope they did not notice. Alex squinted at the darkness around him, and hesitantly slid forwards, following the instructions Artemis issued in his ear...

***

Artemis flipped open the laptop and booted up the disk. 

"OK. This is it." He said into his latex. "Part seven. The one you spent half a year training for." 

"Is that a vote of confidence?" Alex's voice flooded through the speakers. 

"Hardly," Artemis said coldly back. "Concentrate." 

***

"Hardly," Artemis said coldly. "Concentrate." 

Alex took a deep breath. Artemis was right. He needed to concentrate. 

Alex stepped round the corridor and stared at a completely empty, wide corridor. Alex's breath seemed to stop in his throat. 

Empty? Alex didn't think so. Artemis didn't know so. Everywhere in this room, this entire corridor was crossed with invisible lasers. 

Artemis spoke in his ear. "I'll guide you to your starting point, but I won't try and help from there on. It might serve to distract you." 

Alex took a deep breath. "Good luck," he heard in his ear. "Yeah," he breathed. I'll need it.

***

A pair of eyes blinked through binoculars. 

A dark pair of eyebrows furrowed into a frown. 

A pair of pitch-black irises gazed coldly at the young boy who was picking his was through the invisible lasers. 

***

"Alex." Alex nearly fell over. He was twisted into a very complex position. 

"What!" Alex asked through gritted teeth. He slowly bent over to twist underneath the laser above. 

"I know." Artemis sounded amused. "I know about the mistake you're planning." 

Alex reached out and touched the ground. He froze. "Go on." He said. 

***

The eyes still watched, as Alex froze horrified. 

The eyes withdrew from the binoculars after a moment, and the man holding them turned around and said coldly, "What is the boy doing?" 

The binoculars dropped to a wooden table.

"Why isn't he activating the alarms?" 

***

"Well, I know that you're working for MI6, in particular Arno Blunt. I know that you were planning to 'accidentally' trigger one of the lasers around you now. I know that the reason you had to wait till the operation night is because of that little card I gave you. The disk that opens the door. MI6, naturally, needed to recuperate it, or else, if I got away, I could try again, _n'est ce pas_? And I know that the reason you were only supposed to fail _this _part was because I would guess your plot if you failed too easily."

Alex said nothing. Instead, he stretched his hand up to trigger the alarm above his head. 

"But before you trigger the alarm your reaching for, you should know that the card is not the only thing needed to open the safe-though I have infinite duplicates of it with me." 

Alex paused, a millimetre away from the invisible laser. 

"See, you need the card to open the safe door. But you also need a code. It's 50 digits, and I know them all." 

Alex groaned, and put his arm back down. 

"Therefore, the only way to prevent my returning is to capture me." Artemis went on, with a frightening certainty. "If you trigger any of the lasers around you, then you should know that I will get out of here, and, better, I will try again, _and succeed_. But if you _don't_ trigger the lasers...if you get to the goal and bring it to me on the roof, as we planned...then you and your precious MI6 might get another chance to capture me...and I might get my diamond." 

Alex threaded his way through the maze of invisible lasers. He stepped towards the door of the safe, stretching his cramped muscles. 

He lifted his hand to enter the 50-digit code. There was a slot for the card Artemis had given him, which Artemis said, would trigger the password demand into the safe computer. Alex slid the card in and smiled wearily. 

"You've thought this through," he said softly, as Artemis recited the code in his ear. 

***

Arno Blunt glared through the binoculars. He turned to Mrs. Jones.

"You know what this means!" He said angrily. "The boy has betrayed us." Mrs. Jones looked at Arno levelly, and then slowly shook her head.

"I think not," she said. 

Arno watched Mrs. Jones absent-mindedly clear the desk. "He says to meet him on the roof." 

***

Artemis shook with anticipation as Alex stepped into the safe room. 

***

Alex reached his hand out for the diamond. He felt it heavy in his grasp, and carefully slipped it into his pocket. 

***

Artemis took deep breath.

"Onto the next stage." 

Artemis smiled into his microphone. "See you." 

And he switched off his laptop. 

***

Alex slid the mask over his face. In the completely black uniform, he blended in with the outside of the building no one would be able to see him. 

It was freezing. The wind blew past, and Alex tried not to be apprehensive about the hight. Instead, he lifted on hand, and the suction cup attached to it and placed it against the shiny building surface. 

Alex Rider slowly began to climb higher.

***

Artemis was there to meet him at the top. He pulled Alex over the edge and helped him to his feet. Alex crouched down against the back of the stairway and strapped off the suction cups. 

Artemis sat watching him. 

"Where is the diamond?" He asked, when Alex was finished. 

Alex looked at him, and then pulled off his mask. He sighed.

"Here." He reached into his pocket and handed it to Artemis. Artemis looked at it for a moment, then smiled, slipping it into his own pocket. 

A wind was picking up around them. Alex watched him for a moment, then cleared his throat.

"It's a fake," he said softly.

"I beg your pardon?"

"The diamond. It's a fake." 

And Artemis looked at him and smiled. Then he looked up. A helicopter was setting down on the roof. It was stirring up an awful wind. 

Artemis checked his watch. It was 2:18. "Ah." He said. "Right on time." 

***

Mrs. Jones stepped off the helicopter onto the roof. A gun was loosely by her side, and a pair of handcuffs were clipped into the back of her belt. She was shadowed by Arno Blunt. 

"Let me deal with this, Arno," she said as she stepped forwards.

***

Artemis turned to greet her.

"Mrs. Jones," he acknowledged. "Lovely to meet you." 

"You're under arrest," she said. Alex stood a little way off, watching. 

"You can't arrest me for stealing a fake diamond." 

Blunt stepped up behind Mrs. Jones. "We can arrest you for breaking and entering!" 

Artemis tutted. "You have no proof. I wiped the cameras. The only witness you have is Alex. And you can't use him to testify against me." 

"And why not?" Asked Mrs. Jones icily, even though she knew why not. 

"A teenage spy? How low _have _the MI6 stooped?" Artemis smiled at there reactions. "But there's no worries. Here is your fake diamond-" he tossed it to them "-and here is my passage home." He pointed to the helicopter. "I haven't stolen _anything_. Or damaged anything. The place is cleaner, if anything."

Blunt eyed him. 

"Wonderful." Artemis smiled as though it was settled. "Will you give me a moment to part with my-_ahem_-colleague?"

***

Alex smiled at him.

"Smart, Artemis." He said. "You got away with it." 

Artemis shrugged. "I wouldn't have been able to get even the fake diamond without your help." 

Alex frowned. "What do you mean?" 

And Artemis smiled his vampire smile. "_I haven't stolen anything_!" He mimicked. "Do you really think I would go to all that trouble for nothing?"

Alex stopped what he was doing and looked at Artemis. 

Artemis smiled again. "The card. The card I _said_ did nothing."

Alex sighed in apprehension. 

"I told you the safe was a computer. Well, the card diverted five cents worth of stocks from all the investments in the company." 

Alex choked.

"So I know have…roughly 5 _billion_." 

Alex got up and walked over to Artemis. "I'll tell them," he said honestly. 

Artemis smiled even more. "No, you won't." 

"Oh, and how is that?" Alex asked sarcastically. 

"By this." 

Artemis bent forwards a kissed Alex slightly on the cheek. Alex literally froze as Artemis pulled away. Thank god it was dark. They were both blushing hard. 

"Friends?" Artemis asked, extending a hand.

Alex took it. "Friends. Or maybe even more than that." 

Artemis grinned.

"Deal," he said.

****

A/N: Finally! I've actually timed myself: 1 h, 19 minutes. And I feel like passing out. The Artemis/Alex bit was difficult to write. I hope I did it OK. Please do not flame me objecting to the slash hints of just plain shrieking: ARTEMIS AND ALEX ARE STRAIGHT! I don't give a toss whether they are straight or not, I can make them bright purple serial killers is I want to. Thankyou. You were warned. If you don't like this, then why did you read it? If you _did _like it (hahahaha…) then please review.

Love,

~ Ever (1) ~

XXX


End file.
